INFLUENCE OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGY ON STUDENTS’ ATTAINMENT AND RETENTION OF SOCIAL STUDIES CONCEPTS IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS KANO STATE, NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
The study examined the Impact of Cooperative Learning Strategy on
Students‟ achievement and retention of Social Studies Concepts in Junior Secondary Schools in Kano State, Nigeria. The study used quasi-experimental research design, 384 JSS II Students were sampled.Government Junior Secondary School, KafinAgur and JSS Racecourse were used as Experimental Group; and the selected Students were taught using Cooperative Learning Strategy, while JSS Ja‟en and Janguza were used as “Control Group” and the Students were taught using Lecture Method, with JSS II Students. The study used Social Studies Achievement Test (SOSSAT), and Test of Retention (TOR) as data collection instrument. The study answered five (5) research questions and tested five (5) null hypotheses. The data analysis tools were t-test Independent Sample, Cumulative Mean and Standard Deviation. The finding of the study revealed that JSS II Students performed better when taught Cooperative Learning Strategy compared to their counterparts taught Lecture Method. Therefore, based on the findings of this research, it is recommended that the Cooperative Learning Strategy is more effective with Students of Social Studies at Junior Secondary School than Lecture Method. The Cooperative Learning Strategy is effective for both Male and Female Students at JSS level and in Urban and Rural Schools. Based on the above the study recommended the use of Cooperative Learning Strategy by Social Studies Teachers in teaching JSS Students in Kano State, Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Social Studies Education is considered as necessary to be acquired at lower, middle and upper basic Education. As provided by Federal Government of Nigeria inthe National Policy on Education that Junior Secondary Schools.“Shall teachbasic subjects which will enable pupils to acquire further knowledge and skills. Every student shall offer a minimum of (10) and maximum of (13) subjects” (FGN 2004)these subjects include Social Studies as a core subject among others.
To strengthen further the need for Social Studies in nation building, the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) states six (6) objectives of Social Studies to be achieved by young Nigerian citizens. At both the basic Education and Junior Secondary levels as follows:
Develop the ability to adapt to his or her changing environment.
Become responsible and disciplined individual capable and willing to contribute to the development of their societies.
Inculcate the right types of values.
Develop a sense of comprehension towards other people, their diverse culture, history and those fundamental things that make them human.
Develop the capacity to recognize the many dimensions of being human in different cultural and social contexts and
Develop a sense of solidarity and sharing based on a sense of security in one‟s own identity.
In order to achieve these objectives some teaching strategies are developed in order to ease teaching and learning at all Educationallevels the world over, These strategies include Cooperative Learning Strategy, Aesthetic Value Strategy, Concept
Mapping Strategy,Individualistic Instruction Strategyand many others. These
Strategies have been confirmed by some research findings as effective. Aesthetic
Value and Cooperative Learning Strategies research on the effect on Primary Pupils
Mathematics Academic Performance Retention and Application in Gwale Local Government in Kano State, shows that there is significant difference in the academic performance of primary school pupils taught Mathematics using Aesthetic Value
Strategy, Cooperative Learning Strategy and those taught using conventional method (Sadauki 2012). In respect of this researchers pointed out that the techniques of teaching delivered by most of our teachers especially in the Primary and Junior Secondary Schools is based on teacher-centered approaches, in which with the paradigm shift in the teaching practice learner is expected to take part in the lesson through discussion, sharing ideas, checking others work, use of materials and presenting finding by the members of the group. According to Ololobou (2010) the main role expected to be perform by a teacher is to move around group by group to support learners while they are carrying out the activities during the lesson. The teacher can do this through guide, clarification of instructions, supplying appropriate learning materials, as well as recording the learners respond after activity, in turn making learners to understand the lesson by summarizing what the learners‟ responses and relating with the content (topic of discussion).
As per above, teacher-centered approaches are considered ineffective due to the facts that, it create little impact on learners Academic Achievement, because the lesson is dominated by a teacher, talking to the learners where the learners remain passively listeners and recipient of knowledge. There were little or no use of materials by the learners, the learners level of abilities not taking into cognizance by the teacher. It is believed that use of learner-centered approach make teaching and learning more interesting, make the classroom environment lively, arouse learners interest and sustained their interest and attention throughout the teaching and learning process as a result of involving all learners in the lesson through pairs and group work, learners of all abilities get opportunity to think, the teacher focuses on understanding not just memorization and recall of fact. In the light of the above, the present study seeks to investigate the effectiveness or otherwise of Cooperative Learning Strategy on students‟ achievement and retention on Junior Secondary School Social Studies.
1.2Statement of the Problem
Despite the vital role Social Studies plays in preparing students to study subjects such as Government, History, Geography, Economics and Commerce at Senior Secondary School level, it also developed and orients in learners high sense of respect as well as acquisition of skills and competences necessary for self reliance, some obstacles have been discovered in the study area by the present researcher.Which includes mass examination failure, high drop-out rates, low level of students engagement in classroom instruction, conventional classroom size are relatively large ranging from 100 to 120 pupils in a class, unable to cover significant portion of syllabus by many Social Studies teachers, some teachers give note for pupils to copy in their exercise books to mention a few.The problem hinges on a determination of the extent to which the employment of Cooperative Learning Strategy in teaching JSS Students creates better academic achievement and retention of Social Studies concepts than the use of conventional teaching method.
However, there is the need to use innovative teaching approaches that centers on the learners to see if there will be improvement in their academic achievement and retention in Social Studies. Sequel to above, the study investigate the “Impact of Cooperative Learning Strategy on Students Achievement and Retention of Social
Studies Concepts in Junior Secondary Schools Kano State, Nigeria”
1.3Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study are to:
- find out the impact of Cooperative Learning Strategy on students‟ academic achievement and retention of Social Studies concepts in Junior Secondary Schools in Kano State.
- assess the impact of Cooperatives Learning Strategy and Conventional Teaching
Method on students‟ achievement of Social Studies concepts in Junior Secondary Schools.
- examine the impact of Cooperative Learning Strategy and Conventional Teaching
Method on students‟ retention ability of Social Studies concepts in Junior Secondary Schools.
- measure the impact ofCooperative Learning Strategy on Male and Female students‟ achievement of Social Studies concepts in Junior Secondary Schools.
- determine the impact of Cooperative Learning Strategy on Rural and Urban students‟ achievement of Social Studies concepts in Junior Secondary Schools.
1.4Research Questions
The following are the research questions that guided the study:
- What is the difference in the mean achievement and retention scores of Students taught Social Studies concepts using Cooperative Learning Strategy?
- What is the difference in the mean achievement scores of Students taught Social Studies concepts using Cooperative Learning Strategy and those taught using Conventional Method?
- What is the difference in the mean retention scores of students taught Social
Studies concepts using Cooperative Learning Strategy and those taught using Conventional Method?
- What is the difference in the mean achievement scores of Male and Female
Students taught Social Studies concepts using Cooperative Learning Strategy?
- What is the difference in the mean achievement scores of Rural and Urban students‟ taught Social Studies concepts using Cooperative Learning Strategy?
1.5Null Hypotheses
Based on the objectives of the study, thefollowingNull Hypotheses were formulated to guide the conduct of the study to be tested at p≤0.05.
HO1: There is no significant difference in the mean achievement and retention scores of students taught Social Studies concepts using Cooperative Learning Strategy.
HO2:There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of Students taught Social Studies concepts using Cooperative Learning Strategy and those taught using Conventional Method.
HO3: There is no significant difference in the mean retention scores of Students taught
Social Studies concepts using Cooperative Learning Strategy and those taught using
Conventional Method.
HO4: There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of Male and Female students taught Social Studies concepts using Cooperative Learning Strategy.
HO5: There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of Rural and Urban students‟ taught Social Studies concepts using Cooperative Learning Strategy.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The study will be of benefit to Kano State Ministry of Education as it will help them understand the suitability and applicability of Cooperative Learning Strategy in teaching Social Studies inJunior Secondary Schools.Curriculum planners such as
Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) Kano
Educational Research Development (KERD) State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Nigerian Teachers Institute (NTI).
It will also be beneficial to teachers since the teachers in the classroom are the main force or engine room of curriculum implementation. They ensure the implementation of curriculum according to specifications. They decide on the kind of methods, strategy, resource and evaluation techniques that are best suitable for a particular lesson.
The Parents Teachers Association (P.T.A): It should be understood that the (P.T.A) has a variety of functions to perform in the School for achievement of Educational Objectives. As a body the (P.T.A) influence Curriculum implementation in many ways. For instance, It served as an advisory body to the School, recruitment of additional teachers in a very needy subject area, purchase of books and other instructional materials providing funds for the execution of project and many others.
The research also is for the benefit of the learners because as the teacher teaches the students they provide a feedback to the teacher on the effectiveness of his method and approaches to teaching. It is on the basic of such feedback that a teacher decides on whether to continue, review or completely change his strategy of teaching.
1.7Scope of the Study
The study which was conducted in all Junior Secondary Schools in Kano State was aimed at investigating the Impact of Cooperative Learning Strategy on Students’ Achievement and Retention of Social Studies Concepts in Junior Secondary Schools Kano State, Nigeria. Only Cooperative Learning Strategy and Conventional Method were used for the study. Also JSS IIStudentswas used throughout the study which lasted for six (6) weeks. The Concept of Communication was picked from JSS II syllabus as the topic of Experiment with the Students. Therefore, the studycovered the following Schools
- Government Junior Secondary School Race Course.
- Government Junior Secondary School KafinAgur.
- Government Junior Secondary School Jaen.
- Government Junior Secondary School Janguza.
INFLUENCE OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGY ON STUDENTS’ ATTAINMENT AND RETENTION OF SOCIAL STUDIES CONCEPTS IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS KANO STATE, NIGERIA